There are over 7 billion people in the world, but only a fraction has direct influence on decisions that affect everyone. So-called ‘concerned citizens’ may like causes on Facebook, whip up a Twitter storm or take part in street protests, but who really listens? Passion is often met with a couldn’t-care-less attitude and absolutely nothing happens in response to these calls.

BitVote aims to change this by being a neutral tool to access and express public opinion efficiently, without astroturfing. Each and every viewpoint is given the opportunity to be part of a decentralised, digital ecosystem that transcends all cultural divides and is resistant to human manipulation. Without dictating any ideals whatsoever, it’ll use the internet – a platform the majority can access – to end the marginalisation of voices and involve everyone who cares.

Inspired by the SOPA blackout

All you'll need is your body and any device that connects to the internet, a link to a project you feel strongly about – this can be your little sister's girls scout campaign or a petition to stop the conflict in Gaza – and you're set to cast your vote in a system that doesn’t depend on an elected individual’s power. Inspired by the influence the SOPA blackout (read about it here) had on political decisions made without consulting the people it would affect, BitVote will facilitate an alternative platform for 'distributed governance' in a manner that is compatible with all current systems.

How does it work?

Vote with your life!

You can start your own BitVote by adding your own link to a cause or join an ongoing BitVote for a link that already exists on BitVote and allocate actual days, hours and minutes to it. Measured from the time you register to the time you vote, you'll earn vote hours you can dedicate to as many causes as you want.

Every voter earns 24 vote hours a day simply by being signed up to the system, which means that if you don’t spend any, you’ll have 9000 vote hours after being registered for one year. These vote hours can be spent as you like, depending on how important each cause is to you. If you registered a year ago, you could allocate 6 months to your sister's girls scout fundraiser and 6 months to the stop the conflict in Gaza petition. Or a whole year to the fundraiser. Or 11 months to Gaza and 1 month to the fundraiser. Or you could save up your vote time for when something more important comes along. You can decide how to use your ‘life currency’ as BitVotes.